Under the advice of the state's attorney, the DeKalb County Board agreed to stay mum on the proposed period of assessment on new and existing wind farms, Planning and Zoning Committee Chairman Ken Andersen said.

"We're not prepared to comment on it," Andersen said after the meeting.

A three-year "period of assessment" - commonly known as a moratorium - was recommended by the county's planning and zoning committee so that they could study the effects of a wind farm being built in the southern part of the county before making decisions on any new project proposals.

During those three years, new wind farms or expansions to existing wind farms would not be allowed.

The DeKalb County Board was scheduled to vote on the period of assessment when they met Wednesday night. Andersen did not say when or whether the proposed ordinance would be back on the agenda.

However, a lawsuit may delay or halt the project altogether.

On July 21, Citizens for Open Government filed a lawsuit against DeKalb County, all 24 county board members, and Florida Power & Light Energy Illinois Wind LLC, the parent company of NextEra Energy Resources, which is the developer building the wind farm. The group also asked for a temporary retraining order to stop work on the wind farm project.

The suit stems from the county board's June decision to allow NextEra to build 119 wind turbines in Afton, Clinton, Milan and Shabbona townships. The suit claims a wind farm is not a recognized special use in the county's zoning laws, but county officials disagree.

The project includes 151 total turbines; the remaining turbines would be in Lee County and in the villages of Lee and Shabbona.

Work has begun on the Lee County portion of this project, and NextEra is in the process of getting permits for individual turbines from DeKalb County.

The case is next due back in court Oct. 5.